Lands of Olderock

Things are getting worse. Four more mercenaries have been sent from the south along with a note from Lord Sen. I could tell by the tone of the note that the baron is none to happy that this issue has yet to be dealt with. Word is that Lord Sen doesn’t have enough crops to pay the king’s taxes because of the destruction the forest monsters have caused.

I saw the mounts the mercenaries were riding and I recognize the horses. They’re from the baron’s personal stock! This can’t be good, he must be getting desperate and that can only mean that soon I’ll be ordered into the woods to deal with the monsters myself. I pray that these new troops he sent are successful and that it doesn’t come to that.

This group was an interesting one, with the most interesting being an ecclesiastic shrouded in a set of armor that I’m not sure I could afford. Where a man of the cloth could get the coin to acquire such an item is beyond me. What is even more strange is that the funny talking little man looked like he was swimming in the thing. I’m still not sure how he was even able to walk. And like most men of the cloth he had a word too many to share, not only with me, but with some of the townsfolk as well. I roll my eyes at the gods and some people’s need to harvest souls for their unseen deities. The rest looked like your average band of mercenarios, although the large man with the group made my skin crawl a little, for some reason. Maybe it was just the way he was staring at me so intently. One of the group smelled of spicy herbs and wore only cloth robes, was very quiet and seemed to be aware of every little thing going on. The only one I really liked was the short gentleman, I could tell he had a good head on his shoulders. I hope he survives the ordeal so I may get to know him better.

Also being desperate to get this issue behind me I offered the group anything they needed to succeed as well as the map Brent had made to the cave of the, what people are calling, cobolds. I don’t allow my hopes to soar too high and even to match my mood it was reported that a plume of smoke had been seen rising about the trees to the east. I’m sure that my adventurer friends had something to do with it…

On an unrelated note, I have yet to tell Lord Sen about the issue with the dwarves to the north. I don’t know for sure why they’ve closed their gates to us and have stopped trading. Although, I can guess that it probably has something to do with…sigh, you know who. Perhaps I’ll arrange a hunt tomorrow so I can sneak away so we can have a talk. I’d like to know if he has any insight on what’s going on with the dwarves…I just hope whatever the issue is, it’s not enough to make the short men hostile…

More dead, or at least I assume. No bodies have been recovered, not as of yet. How many does that make? 5? 6?

Its been at least a fortnight since Lord Sen sent the three travelers from Gorand Keep. Oh I didn’t even bother to learn any of their names, may Hurrand keep their souls.

I had to personally ask Brent to investigate; of course he didn’t want to go. What’s the point of risking his life for 3 strangers? He had a point, but in the end I was able to convince him. I’ll owe him something big.

4 days later Brent returned on his horse, hurt. He reported that he was able to track the 3 adventurers south to the forest. He stated that he could tell that they must have come across a number of the monsters as they approached the forest. He even admitted to finding one the monsters rotting in some brush, its grey blood pouring out from wound in its neck.

From there, he tracked the trio to a cave deeper in the forest. That is where Brent was attacked. The old fool must not have been being careful, but he claims the small monsters moved like the wind through the forest. Brent took a rock to his shoulder and retreated back to Goldwing. He claims to have lost all feeling in his right arm.

We’ve sent word to Lord Sen to report the failure and possible death of his hired mercenaries and to send a physician to help with Brent’s arm.

Last night a rider arrived in Goldwing, Duran Jarnes, who claims to have been sent by Lord Sen. He carried correspondence with the baron’s seal. The baron sends his condolences in regards to the problems the small monsters have caused and he has offered a higher reward to a party that could flush them completely out. 200 gold pieces!

We’ve asked Brent to draw a map to the cave he found. Hopefully more help will arrive soon.